Other forms: altitudes
Altitude is how high above the sea you are. At altitude, gain altitude, altitude sickness.
The air thins with it, and altitude sickness begins for many people above about two and a half thousand metres — climbing slowly is the only reliable prevention. Aircraft altitude is measured by air pressure, which is why pilots reset the setting as they fly. Note that the Latin altus means high.
1nounaltitudeHeight above sea level.
“At high altitude, the air is thin and breathing is harder.”
altitude is a height.
Also accepted in games: elevation
Latin altitudo comes from altus, high or deep. Exalt and altar come from the same height.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂el- (grow)
Latin
altitūdō — height
English, today
altitude
Built from
From Middle English -, borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”), from altus (“high”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA